Chorus

AEDE Say... oh yeah, life goes on
AEDE Long after the thrill of livin' is gone
AEDE Say... oh yeah, life goes on
AEDEA Long after the thrill of livin' is gone (now walk on)
(intro x2)
Jackie sits back, reflects his thoughts for the moment
Scratches his head and does his best James Dean
Well, you know Diane, we ought to run off to the city
Diane says "Baby, you ain't missing no-thing"
Jackie says... oh yeah, life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin' is gone
Oh yeah, they say life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin' is gone
Gonna let it rock, let it roll
Let the Bible belt come down and save my soul
Hold on to sixteen as long as you can
Changes come around real soon
Make us women and men
(interlude x1)
Oh yeah, life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin' is gone
Oh yeah, they say life goes on
Long after the thrill of livin' is gone
A little ditty about Jack and Diane
Two American kids doin' the best they can
(intro, repeat as desired to end)

Notes & Tabs

Simplified Guitar Chords

If you want to keep it as simple as possible, you can use the standard guitar chords as shown here (all in open positions). Everything in the tabs further below will show some slightly more advanced ways to work through this song -- but if nothing else, you can fall back on these. Keep it simple, and listen along for the changes.

Video Tutorial for the Riffs Below

Everything I've transcribed below is based off this excellent instructional video made by Desi Serna. Watch it if you are able -- he shows and explains everything quite well. For reference, the tabs for each section he shows are typed out below.

Intro Riff

The trick here is to initially bar the 9th fret with your index finger. From that foundation, the "E" is played by simply removing all other fingers (except index finger), and the "D" is played by simply sliding your barred index finger down to the 7th fret.

Verse and Chorus Riff

Start off by barring the 5th fret with your index finger (for the "A" chord), and then transitioning to the classic "D" shape for the "E" and "D" chords. Use your pinky to add the flourishes to the "A" and "E" chords, as shown in the tab. Listen along for the rhythm and timing.

Interlude

Song Info

Tip Jar

Want to support Songnotes? If you would like to donate a dollar or few, that would make my day. I've spent over 1000+ hours building this site and transcribing these songs -- and happily make everything available freely. Visit my PayPal page if you'd like to toss something back my way.

1961

1960

1958

1957

About

My name is David Potsiadlo, and I created Songnotes to share my collection of guitar tabs, chords, and lyrics for my favorite songs.

Since I started playing guitar over 10 years ago, I've often been frustrated by the preponderance of mediocre and incomplete song tabs littered across the internet. To combat this, I started keeping my own collection of notes for each song I learn -- always taking the extra time to make sure accuracy and completeness are never compromised. Years later, my collection grew to the point where I knew I had to share it online with fellow aspiring musicians.

In December 2012, I began designing & developing a website that became Songnotes. Here, I share my personal collection of hand-crafted music notation with all those online. I hope you enjoy.